City capitalise on errors to leapfrog Blues into top four

On a night of mistakes, the first was the worst but not the costliest. And for that, Abdukodir Khusanov could thank Robert Sanchez.

- RICHARD JOLLY

The £33m defender’s Manchester City career may yet be defined by the opening few minutes but a traumatised figure ultimately ended a winner.

First impressions can prove deceptive, and he must hope so, but Sanchez, 17 months into a seven-year contract, again looked a liability whose latest blunder allowed Erling Haaland to score in a turnaround. City, seemingly beginning with the potential to descend into crisis, ended up victorious to leapfrog Chelsea.

If Noni Madueke’s goal may haunt Khusanov, the scale of the missed opportunity should haunt Chelsea. They had not beaten City since the 2021 Champions League final, not scored in eight of their previous 10 meetings. But gifted a goal by vulnerable opponents with a newcomer enduring the debut from hell, they failed to capitalise on City’s fallibility.

Instead, their toxic combination of a high defensive line and a lack of pressure on the ball allowed Josko Gvardiol to equalise. Sanchez’s second glaring mistake in as many games permitted Haaland to put City ahead. The Norwegian sent Phil Foden galloping through a hole where the Chelsea defence were supposed to be to add a late third.

For City, the team who led in Paris on Wednesday and lost by two goals, it was a neat role reversal. A fourth win in five league games suggests they are capable of conjuring results. Not by being a coherent side at the peak of their powers, because flaws are still all too apparent, but in Haaland –who has six goals in his last six outings – and Foden, with six in four league matches, they possess match-winners. The side showed character and their leveller indicated Pep Guardiola has found a way to compensate for his midfielders’ inability to run.